Vivian James and The Gate of Truth
by 1411162426250
Summary: Vivian James becomes a gamer and discovers the Gate of Truth.
1. Ch 1: Power On

Life was ordinary and boring for Vivian James. She lived in a cul-de-sac in the suburbs with her Aunt and Uncle and their smug daughter Gilda. Vivian's parents died in a car crash, or at least that's what her Uncle always told her. She always suspected that wasn't the full story though due to the strange scar on her forehead. A short line pointing vertically towards her nose and hairline with an almost closed circle breaking from the middle of the line. It was...almost like a power button. It doesn't seem like the kind of scar one would get in a car accident.

"Vivian! Get out here now and make your cousin breakfast!" Vivian scrambled off her mattress and put on her favorite sweatshirt before opening the closet door with a slam and running into the kitchen. "It's Gilda's birthday today so make it good," Vivian's aunt sneered "If Gilda likes it maybe you can go to the arcade with us later for the party." Vivian rolled her eyes and bit her tongue as she pulled some bacon from the fridge. It wasn't worth being excluded from the arcade just to snap at her aunt.

A few minutes later Gilda came down the stairs with a thump, thump, thump, lugging her gigantic body towards the smells wafting from the kitchen. At 600 pounds Gilda could reasonably be described as a small planet and Vivian often poked fun at her before darting away, calling her Gilda Mars. "Mmmm are those pancakes?" Gilda said with a massive grin, leering at the pancakes on the plate as Vivian finished scrambling the eggs. "Yeah they're for everyone's breakfast," Vivian said knowing her cousin wanted all of them, "you'll get your share if you wait." Gilda shoved Vivian out of the way and started piling all the food onto one plate. "Hey! I want some too!" Vivian shouted getting up from the floor. "You'll have a yogurt for breakfast. Stop fighting and be grateful you even have anything to eat. You're lucky we took you in after your parents got themselves killed." Vivian's uncle said as he entered the kitchen with his blackberry in hand.

Vivian's uncle worked as CFO at a hedge fund and was constantly reading about the stock market on his phone. Previously wealthy he lost most of his money in the crash due to poor investments. "Good morning honey, good morning princess," he muttered as he sat down at the dining room table, "happy birthday." Gilda didn't bother replying instead opting to shove another whole pancake into her already full mouth. Vivian grabbed a strawberry yogurt and spoon and started walking back to her closet. "And just where do you think you're going eh?" Vivian's uncle said eyeballing her from over his phone. "I was going to go eat my...breakfast." Vivian said, sarcasm dripping from her words. "Eat it at the table quick and then get started on the dishes, I want that sink clean before we go to the arcade today." Knowing she was going to be allowed to go to the arcade dried up her sarcasm immediately and Vivian sat down to eat her yogurt.

Three hours later Vivian entered the local arcade with a certain glint in her eyes. She loved the arcade even though she couldn't ever afford to play the games there. Every day after school ended Vivian would run to the arcade and watch other kids play before she had to go home and do her chores. There was something special about the dark room and the glowing screens, something that just couldn't be described in simple poorly written sentences. Each screen was a portal to another world, another adventure, where Vivian was the hero and her enemies were evil personified. It's such a contrast to the dull monotony of everyday life. The rush you get from ramming the joystick back and forth and mashing the buttons to defeat your foes, the joy you get from achieving the high score, and that feeling of contentment when the quest is complete, it's all magical.

"Outta my way pissbaby!" Gilda growled. Vivian stepped aside allowing her cousin to enter while wondering why she was already in such a bad mood. Maybe she was hungry again. Vivian shrugged and held the door for her aunt and uncle as Gilda went to greet several of her friends at a table. Vivian fell in step behind her uncle while her aunt went off to the restroom since she was in no rush to mingle with Gilda's friends. They were all as fat and mean as Gilda and it often showed in their faces and manner of dress.

Instead of focusing on Gilda's clique Vivian chose instead to let her eyes wander from machine to machine wondering which one she would play first. Maybe the new rail shooter with zombies, that would be thrilling. Or maybe that old game from the 80's where you eat the dots while you're being chased by colored ghosts, it's simple but you can't go wrong with a classic.

Finally her eyes settled on the game with the biggest crowd around it. It was a fighting game and the two competitors were putting it through it's paces. A blond haired man dressed in red was shooting blue energy balls on the left hand of the screen while a green skinned orange haired monster jumped and dodged on the right. Vivian was entranced by the battle before her. Click click clack click, the two players pressed the buttons furiously trying to pull off the most complicated combos. As their health slowly depleted the screen flashed as the player playing the man in red initiated his special to the ooohhh!'s of the crowd.

"Vivian grab this." The voice snapped Vivian back to reality as her uncle handed her a heavy bag of coins. Her eyes widened and she smiled in glee thinking of all the games she was going to play. Noticing her reaction her uncle smirked, "I'm glad you're so happy to hold Gilda's coins for her while she plays. Make sure you don't drop them or you'll pay back every cent this summer." Her heart sank as she realized she was only here because her fat lazy cousin couldn't be bothered to hold her own bag of coins. They walked towards the table as Gilda was woofing down an enormous piece of chocolate cake.

"Happy birthday sweetie," Vivian's uncle said kissing his daughter on the forehead as she beamed up at him with a face covered in chocolate "Vivian is going to follow you and carry your coins while you play. Have fun your mom and I will be right here at the table." Gilda washed down the cake with soda and wiped her face with a napkin before giving her father a hug. "Thank you so much daddy! See you later!" Vivian followed, bag of coins in hand, as Gilda waddled off into the depths of the arcade.

She went from machine to machine but Gilda wasn't very good at video games and quickly depleted her bag of coins. After begging her father for more and going through most of that as well she finally ended up at the fighting game machine Vivian had observed earlier. The crowd was gone now, having moved on to a different game, and Gilda was free to play. She picked her character, a muscular looking woman with two blonde braided pigtails, and began a match against the computer AI. She lost quickly and asked for another coin. She lost her rematch as well. After losing several more times she hit the machine and began walking away in a huff, "This game is boring it's too hard." Vivian rolled her eyes as she followed her cousin muttering, "It's not hard you're just bad."

Gilda stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. "What did you just say? You think you can do better than me?" Vivian smiled charmingly and pet her cousin on the head. "Gilda, dear, I don't think I'm better than you. I know I am." Enraged at the comment Gilda shoved Vivian into the machine hard. Vivian grimaced but didn't dare fight back against her cousin, knowing full well what her aunt and uncle would do to her if she did. Gilda shoved her again and Vivian dropped the bag, the last two coins spilling out. "You think you're so smart. You're nothing and I'm going to prove it. Get up and put those coins in the machine." Gilda snarled as she waddled over to the first players spot.

Vivian put the coins in barely able to believe that she'd just been challenged to a fighting game by her cousin. _At least this way it'll end with less bruises_, Vivian thought sarcastically. Gilda chose her character, the same blonde woman as before. Looking at the choices Vivian settled on an extremely muscular male character who seemed to be from Russia. 3, 2, 1, the match started and Gilda began mashing buttons as was her custom. Vivian blocked the onslaught of basic moves waiting for her opening and then...there! A strong uppercut put the blonde off balance as Vivian went into a complicated combo. One, two, three, four, the combo meter kept rising as Vivian executed a perfect juggle of maneuvers. Realizing she was about to lose Gilda elbowed her cousin hard in the gut causing her to double up in pain. Vivian looked on with tears in her eyes as her character went from the edge of victory to a brutal defeat with no one there to guide him. With the match over Gilda stepped away from the machine and smiled sweetly at Vivian. "Guess you're not as good as you thought, huh? It's ok not everyone can be as good as me. Maybe if you practice some day you'll be on my level." Gilda stood there enjoying every second of her cruelty while Vivian stared right back with hate in her heart. She grabbed the machine, pulling herself up, and somehow willed the hate she felt into action. The screen flashed brightly and in an instant Gilda has a thick face of hair in the same style as the Russian fighter in the game.

Gilda's eyes went wide with horror as her fat fingers explored her new bushy beard. Everyone in the arcade stopped playing their games and laughed at the fat girl with the beard. "Mom! Dad! Help me!" She screamed as she lumbered towards the tables. Vivian followed, giggling the whole way, her hate forgotten. Upon seeing their daughter's hairy face Vivian's aunt paled as her uncle went bright red. Gilda went straight for her mother, crying into her sweater. Vivian's uncle grabbed her arm roughly pulled her outside. "What did you do to her?" he screamed, "I know you did this!" Vivian didn't bother saying anything knowing her uncle would blame her regardless. Seeing he was being ignored he bent down and said with a quiet menace as his wife and daughter got in the care,"If you ever speak a word of this to anyone the consequences will never be the same. Do you understand me?" Vivian nodded not trusting herself to speak.

She wondered on the ride home what had caused that bright flash and the mysterious hair to grow on her cousins face. As they pulled into the driveway, Gilda's muffled sobs echoing in her mind, Vivian wanted more than anything to control whatever power it was that had done this.


	2. Ch 2: You're a gamer Vivy

"Vivian! Get out here right now you little monster!"

Vivian blinked and woke up wondering what had set her aunt off this time. Ever since the incident at the arcade last week her aunt and uncle had made Vivian's life as miserable as possible. They blamed her and expected her to pay back every penny they spent at the barber shop to have Gilda's face shaved clean. _It's not like the fatass didn't deserve it_, Vivian thought as she rubbed her eyes.

"Vivian! Now!" her aunt screamed again.

Vivian got up and walked down the hall and into the office where her sat in front of the computer tapping her foot and pointing at the screen.

"What is this? What did you sign up for?"

Vivian looked at the screen and read:

Miss Vivian James

Re: School enrollment

"Why did you use my email to apply to some school? What is this? It better not have cost any money. Do you think this is a game? This is my personal private email account. How dare you!" Vivian tuned her aunt's tirade out, wondering what the email was all about. After letting her aunt vent for several minutes Vivian realized continued silence would only make her angrier.

"Have you tried reading it?" Vivian asked knowing it was a mistake as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Read it? No I'm not going to read it. Who knows what it could be. Riddled with viruses I'm sure. I'm deleting it and you better never do this again if you know what's good for you. Now go take out the trash."

The next day felt like deja vu as Vivian woke to her aunt screaming. "Vivian! Get out here now! What is wrong with you? I told you not to use my email!" Vivian jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to the office. Sure enough her aunt was sitting in front of the computer with her email open. This time there were two emails, both addressed to her regarding school enrollment.

"I've never signed up for anything with your email I don't know what these are I swear." Vivian said trying to placate her aunt. "If you didn't do it then why are they addressed to you?" Vivian's aunt said, anger smoldering in her eyes. Vivian shrugged, "just open them and see what they are." Vivian's aunt looked right in her eyes, swiveled in her chair, and deleted the emails.

"I'm going to make a new email account. You. Will. Not. Do this again. Do you understand me? This is your last warning." Vivian nodded and turned to leave. "When you go back to your closet I want you to unplug your computer and I want you to throw it away in the trashcan and then take the trashcans out to the curb. It's garbage day. Do it now." Vivian turned out sharply about to protest when her aunt cut her off. "Don't! Don't you dare. Obviously we've given you too much freedom in this household and you've decided to abuse it. You wont get another chance."

Vivian left and did as her aunt told her, feeling the bitter sting of being punished for something she knew wasn't her fault. Her only solace living in a household that hates her only a little more than she hates it was found in playing games on her computer. And now it was in the trash. _If I ever find out who did this they're going to pay_, Vivian promised herself as she walked back inside.

The next few days were relatively normal. No aunt screaming, no strange emails, all of it seemed over. Then one afternoon the front door opened with a bang. Vivian peeked her head out of her closet and saw her uncle throw his briefcase on the floor and point at her. "You! You stupid little bitch! After everything we've done for you!" Vivian, already feeling defeated after her aunt made her throw away her computer, was not going to play the victim any longer. "I didn't do anything to you!" She screamed back letting out her hurt and frustration.

"Don't lie to me," her uncle said while waving his arms wildly, "Everyone in my entire office building got emails addressed to you today. Over nine thousand emails! And the tech guys say they originated from my laptop. Did you put a virus on it after your aunt threw yours out? That's exactly what you did isn't it? You're lucky I wasn't fired!" Vivian gave her uncle the finger and closed her door. "That's it Vivian! That's it! You're out of here! Pack your things and get out! I want you gone by this time tomorrow!"

The next day Vivian was walking down the street aimlessly with everything she cared about stuffed into the backpack she was carrying. The summer sun beat down on her mercilessly as she wondered what she'd done to deserve this kind of treatment. _It doesn't matter what I did or didn't do no one cares anyway_, she thought to herself bitterly as she kicked a can. She walked with her head down taking random turns and crossing streets she barely noticed. After what seemed like an eternity she realized it was getting dark and she needed to find a place to stay for the night.

Looking around Vivian saw an alley off to her left and what looked like a door that wasn't closed right leading into some building. Vivian shrugged and walked to the door and opened it. It was dark with a faint glow coming from the front and she couldn't hear anyone inside. _I'll just sleep in a corner and be out before anyone comes in the morning_, Vivian decided. As she wandered through the building looking for a place to lay down she realized she knew where she was.

"How the hell did I end up back here?" She wondered out loud. Sure enough she was standing behind the change counter at the arcade.

The machines were on and glowing dimly but it didn't seem like any games were loaded. Vivian walked from machine to machine as if she was visiting old friends. Finally she ended up in front of the fighting game she had played her cousin at days earlier. Anger welled from deep within Vivian and she kicked the machine as hard as she could. The screen went black and for a moment Vivian thought she had broken it. Then the screen lit up and Vivian found herself staring at an email inbox. It was entirely full of emails addressed to her.

"Ok, this is getting weird now." Vivian said as she walked up to the machine.

Vivian decided it was time to find out what this was all about. She moved the joystick to control the mouse and hovered over one of the emails. Then she pressed a button and watched as the screen loaded the email someone was desperately trying to get to her.

Dear Miss James,

As we're sure you are aware the school year is soon to start. Now that you are of age to attend you have been formally accepted and enrolled at The University of Gaming and Gadgetry. A list of required school materials has been attached to this email as a pdf. Term begins on September 3. We look forward to a fun and productive year of learning.

Warm regards,

Christina Sommers

Deputy Headmistress

"University...of gaming? What the hell?"

Vivian stood there reading the email over and over, perplexed. As she was reading it over for the sixth time the lights all switched on causing Vivian to be blinded for a moment.

"So I see you finally got your email. 'bout time. Of course I can't blame you with that uncle and aunt of yours being the way they are. Difficult people."

Vivian rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly desperately trying to see who was there.

"I remember when I got my email. Feels like it was yesterday. I was in the public library looking up some technical details about computer hardware when the page refreshed to an email inbox. Funny looking back how worried I was about that. Thought I'd broken the computer somehow."

Vivian was still rubbing her eyes, all she could see was the outline of a man behind the change counter.

"Who are you? What do you know about these emails? What is all of this?" She asked rapidly, wanting answers.

"You mean you don't know? Geez didn't your aunt and uncle tell you?"

"Tell me what? Who are you? What's going on?"

"My name is Lagrid and you, Vivian James, are a gamer."


End file.
